The ways by which you may get money almost without exception lead downward. To have done anything by which you earned money merely is to have been truly idle or worse. If the laborer gets no more than the wages which his employer pays him, he is cheated, he cheats himself.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Earning money through easy or idle means leads to moral decline, and being underpaid cheats both employer and worker.
- In plain terms
- Easy money and low wages are harmful and dishonest.
- What can you take from it?
- Seek honest work and fair compensation.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What defines honest work for you?
- How do you balance profit and integrity?
Another view
Not all easy money is immoral; sometimes necessity forces compromise.
More from Henry David Thoreau
Most men would feel insulted, if it were proposed to employ them in throwing stones over a wall, and then in throwing them back, merely that they might earn th…
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